Give Me A Reason
by AGoldenCharm
Summary: Tina and Mike go on a double date with...


Even though Mike and Sam hang out pretty regularly outside of school, Mike knows something's up when Sam grabs him after rehearsal and asks if they can go somewhere private to talk. Actually, it seems kind of _weird _to have "private talk" with another guy, to be perfectly honest, but Mike's not one to judge and he agrees to meet Sam at the Lima Bean in ten minutes.

As he picks up his order of black coffee from the vaguely familiar barista, Mike spots Sam shuffling in, causing the bell on the door to jangle cheerfully. Sam's eyes are narrowed and his forehead is wrinkled the way it usually is when he's bothered or frustrated with something.

"Hey man," Sam lifts his head in acknowledgment, his expression clearing as if he hadn't realized that Mike had already caught the troubled look on Sam's face.

"What's up?" Mike asks slowly as they take a seat in the far corner of the coffee shop.

Sam's shifting his weight uncomfortably, as if buying time or something. "I need to ask you for a favor."

Mike blinks, confused. "Sure, anything."

Sam hesitates, "Um... swear you won't say anything about this? To anyone?"

Mike can't help but widen his eyes a little because this sounds kind of serious. "Y-yeah. Of course."

"Can we do... can we do a double date... type thing?"

"A double date?" Mike asks, thoroughly stunned. "With- with who?"

"With you and Tina."

"No, I _know_ with me and Tina. I mean who are _you_ bringing?"

"M-Mercedes."

It's quiet for a moment because even though Sam and Mercedes were together at prom, his answer is pretty shocking. It's a pretty big deal and all, especially since for the past couple of weeks, Sam's ranted about Quinn and Santana to Mike pretty frequently and at one point, Sam even managed to proclaim out loud that he wanted to swear off girls forever. He remembers it very clearly.

_"Seriously man, I'm _done_ with girls. Like, for good. They're so damn annoying and they have no respect for you or your relationship."_

_"Mmm, I know dude. I'm sorry about Santana."_

_"But it's not just Santana! It was Quinn, too. She just cheated on me like I was _nothing _to her. And after all that I had put into our relationship, it just seemed like a total waste of time..."_

_"You'll find someone better."_

_"Well I'm sick of it. I just wanna... swear off girls. Forever, y'know? You and I should make a no-girls pact. Like as part of some kind of bro code."_

_"...Dude, I'm dating Tina."_

_"Oh... Right."_

Mike is still sort of processing the information when Sam raises his eyebrows expectantly, clearly waiting for a coherent answer.

"You and Mercedes?" Mike gapes openly.

"Y-yeah," Sam folds his arm defensively, leaning back, "You gotta problem with that?"

"_No!_ Of course not," Mike insists, "I think it's great. Just unexpected."

_"_W-why? Why is it unexpected?" Sam looks like he's about to sweat his body weight. _"_Because it's her? You- you have a problem with it being her?"

"No man, chill out!" Mike says, alarmed. "I just thought you swore off girls. Like, _forever_." Mike can't help but speculate over how much Sam is spluttering... it's weird. But he's usually not good about reading signs like this; maybe he'll ask Tina about it later. Speaking of Tina...

"How come I didn't know about this? Tina and I tell each other _everything_, but she's never mentioned this before!"

"That's... that's because Mercedes and I have been keeping trying to keep it on the down low. With all the drama that always goes down in Glee, we figured it would be a lot safer if we just kept it a secret. And... and that's why she suggested we go on a double date with you guys."

"Really?" Mike blinks blankly, "How is that different?"

"Well, I want to take her out to dinner at Breadstix- I've saved up some extra money from my job- but we don't wanna get caught alone together at a booth, y'know? So if we double date, it'll look less private and stuff."

This is a weird proposition, Mike has come to realize. He's never been asked on a secret double date before it's still kind of weird to think about, but it's Sam and they're bros so he'll run it by Tina as soon as they leave the coffee shop and Mike swings by Tina's place before her parents get home. (She had promised him a surprise today and from his previous experiences, he's come to the conclusion that her surprises usually involve a lot of kissing, very little clothes, and a creative new idea that passed through her mind earlier on...)

* * *

><p>"SAM? <em>MERCEDES? MERCEDES AND SAM? Sam Evans and Mercedes Jones?<em>" Tina is legitimately flipping out right now, pacing back and forth across her bedroom floor with her fingers tangled in her hair in frustration.

Mike is lying across her bed, toying with her sheets and watching her freak out before him. Because yeah, he had kind of expected to be tackling her to the bed by now but to be perfectly fair, Mercedes is kind of Tina's best friend and he knows Tina is feeling majorly offended right now.

"How come she never told me?" Tina wails as she collapses on the bed next to him in the curve that his body creates across her comforter.

"T, they were trying to keep it a secret," Mike murmurs as he pulls her close to him by the waist and hums into her hair.

"But Sam told _you_!"

Mike grins and tickles her upper thigh teasingly, "Maybe Sam likes me more than Mercedes likes you."

"_Mike!_"

"I'm _kidding_, Tina. Sam was just the one that had to bring up the whole double date idea."

"But she's my _best friend_," Tina whines, frowning.

"It's scary revealing yourself as a new couple," Mike says soothingly, "Remember how secretive we were about it when we got back from Asian camp? Let them be for now, they'll tell everyone when they're ready."

"I hate it when you're right, Mike Chang."

"I love it when you admit I'm right," Mike grins cheekily, "What do you say? Are you up for it?"

"Our best friends on a double date with us?" Tina smiles and turns him gently onto his back, climbing on top of him so that she's securely straddling his lap, "Sounds _awesome_."

* * *

><p>Dinner with Mercedes and Sam starts off a little awkward. Mostly because Tina and Mercedes are arguing in quiet voices, and mostly about how Mercedes didn't breathe a <em>word<em> about her relationship with Sam to Tina and Tina is _extremely_ bitter about it. Mike and Sam share amused expressions for the next ten minutes while the two girls bicker.

"Girl you _know_ I wouldn't have said anything to anyone. We've been chilling a lot since prom but we didn't want to say anything because we _knew_ you'd all flip."

"_A lot_? How much is a lot, exactly?"

"I don't know," Sam shrugs, "Couple times a week, I guess. Mercedes helps me babysit Stacey and Stevie sometimes."

Tina sits back in her seat, handing her menu to the waitress and folding her arms defiantly, "I still can't believe you didn't tell me."

"Oh, _stop_. You know I'd tell you anything, Tina. Sam and I... weren't all that sure if we were _dating_ or not. Besides, I wasn't sure if he could handle all this anyway," Mercedes gestures to her entire body with a smug smile.

"Why not?" Mike chuckles and Tina rolls her eyes, clearly used to Mercedes' attitude. "Did you guys go on dates?"

"Well, I-I wanted to take her to see a movie, but tickets are so expensive now," Sam turns a dark shade of pink.

"So I dug up my brother's copy of Avatar on DVD and we watched it at my place," Mercedes finishes with a quick grin and a reassuring pat on Sam's hand, which is tapping restlessly and rather uncomfortably against the table, presumably from the mention of money.

"And we couldn't stop after that- her bro's got like fifty DVDs piled up in a box and we just went through like four of them that night," Sam explains with a tiny smile, peeking a quick sideways glance at Mercedes, who not so subtly returns the smile.

"I still hate him for making us watch the _Revenge of the Sith_," Mercedes rolls her eyes, "He chose it over _Return of the Jedi_. Can you _believe _it?"

Mike and Tina share a blank stare.

"Mercedes, you watch _Star Wars_?" Tina breaks the silence incredulously.

Sam cracks up and Mercedes shoves his arm purposefully, "My brother made me watch all of them as soon as they came out, okay? Don't tell him but I actually ended up digging the whole series... well, except for _Revenge of the Sith_..."

"So your first date ended up pretty good, then?" Mike prompts.

"Well, yeah," Mercedes shrugs cheerfully, "And after that, he- he asked me to be his girlfriend-"

"-Ooooh Sam, you were super corny about it, weren't you?" Mike rolls his eyes. One of the best parts about dating Tina is that he likes to think that he's successfully found the boundary line between romantic and unrealistically gushy. Even though toward the beginning of their relationship, Tina had smacked him repeatedly upside the head for bringing her flowers on their first through fourth dates. But he swears he's learned by now.

Sam opens and closes his mouth, clearly offended, but no words escape his mouth at first. Finally he huffs, "Why do you just _assume_ that I was super corny?"

"Dude, you practically gave Quinn an engagement ring. And you tried to seduce her with the whole Venus being the 'planet of love' or whatever," Mike grins.

"Uncalled for, man."

Mercedes cracks up, "Actually, he wasn't so bad. For a white boy." Her eyebrows fly past her bangs and she playfully nudges her shoulder against Sam's.

"Ooooh what did he do? Or say?" Tina asks eagerly. Because even though she tosses romanticism over her shoulder as though she didn't give a damn about any of it, Mike's been working on a pretty well backed up theory that Tina has a soft spot for some good old-fashioned romance.

"You wanna tell the story?" Mercedes asks.

"Sure," Sam chuckles, "But it's not really a _story_. That just makes it sound like a bigger deal than it was. Mercedes was over babysitting again and after we put my brother and sister to sleep, Mercedes was gonna drive home before my shift and I just stopped her and brought her out for a walk around the motel. Which, now that I think about it, sounds really lame and unromantic. But I told her how awesome she is and how much I like her and then I just... _asked _her."

"Good work," Mike nods approvingly with a wink, "And I thought it would have been overkill."

"You doubt me, bro."

"A thousand apologies to you," Mike laughs.

They settle into a comfortable silence as the waitress brings them their orders and Mike and Sam shovel their burgers into their mouths while Tina and Mercedes pick at their pasta. Tina's trailing her foot against Mike's leg but Mike's grown pretty accustomed to it. Not that he doesn't notice it. Or react to it. He shoots her a half-knowing, half-_not-now_ look but receives only a smirk in response.

"Anyway, we ran into Kurt and Blaine at the coffee shop the other day," Mercedes sighs, capturing their attention again, "And we had just been planning on doing a dinner date or something but we realized that someone might catch us or something. So Sam decided to appeal to you guys because well... you two are the only stable duo out there and Tina you know you're my fave and Sam trusts Mike like no other, so..."

"...The rest is history," Sam finishes while waggling his eyebrows.

"You're such a dork."

Mike turns to send Tina a telepathic look that says "_Look how close they are already" _or_ "They're so happy_" or something, but Tina's reading a text message. Maybe it's because Mike was raised to keep cellphones pocketed during meals, but Mike can't help but feel slightly embarrassed that Tina is blatantly checking her phone while they're on a double date.

He casts a slightly apologetic expression toward Sam but Sam's apparently busy edging his plate of fries toward Mercedes to share. Mercedes reciprocates with a small smile and hands him her fork to try her pasta. Sam twirls a couple of noodles around the fork and doesn't notice when some of the sauce flies out and lands on his cheek. Mercedes wipes it away with her thumb and they smile shyly at each other. Oh, the new relationship cues. Mike actually kinda liked them months and months ago and watching Sam and Mercedes live it out makes the nostalgia return but most of the time, Tina gave him plenty of reasons to appreciate the stage they had arrived at in their relationship.

And right now, she's about to give him another one.

Tina's leaning over close. _Really_ close to his ear and breathing something softly. Something that he can't make out at first but he's long since discovered how to decipher Tina's seemingly incoherent words.

"_My parents just texted me- they're going out to dinner with their friends who are in town for the weekend and won't be home until eleven tonight."_

_That's_ a reason if he's ever heard one. Mike _knows _this means that time is precious and they'll be sprinting back to her house as soon as dinner's over. _Damn_, on the _one_ night that they're on a double date. Any other date and they both would have dropped their money on the table and gotten the hell out of there without finishing their entrees or putting them in takeout boxes.

Mike gulps as Tina pockets her phone, her tongue sweeping over her bottom lip carelessly as she returns to the table conversation. The waitress is bringing them their bills- exactly three, one for Sam and Mercedes, one for Mike, and one for Tina, who still won't let Mike pay for the majority of their dates. Which is kind of embarrassing really because Sam is being all gallant and gentlemanly as he counts out his cash and slides it in the book and Mercedes is thanking him graciously while Tina counts out her fives and Mike is left with only his own bill to be responsible for.

"This was fun," Mercedes finally says softly as the waitress takes away their payments, "We should do it again sometime soon."

"Are you guys gonna tell everyone that you're dating?" Tina inquires.

Sam and Mercedes glance nervously at each other before she responds, "We- we don't know yet. And I don't want Quinn or Santana to jump down my throat or whatever. Plus," she bites her lip, "I'm no Cheerio. I don't want the whole school messing with Sam because he's dating..._me_."

"I've told you a _hundred _times, 'Cedes. I don't _care_, we all get crap from everyone either way, right? But uh... I'm a little scared for Santana's reaction, too."

"Totally. The way she bitched out Rachel was just downright terrifying."

"And in _Spanish_..." Tina rolls her eyes as they stand up to leave, "Anyway, we can go out on double dates whenever you guys want, okay? Just let us know, we love hanging out with you guys."

"Thanks girl," Mercedes places one hand on Tina's arm, "Just bear with us a bit more while we figure stuff out, mkay?" Tina envelops Mercedes in a warm hug as Sam turns to Mike.

"Thanks for being cool about this," Sam says quietly before leaning in, "And I _promise _I'll pay you back the ten dollars I borrowed from you tonight in the next week okay? I'm getting paid on Monday, so it should be-"

"-Dude, don't worry about it, you don't even have to pay me back," Mike whispers.

"I don't need charity, you know that," Sam hisses back, "Next week. I promise."

"Okay," Mike relents, resting his hand on Sam's shoulder, "Just take your time, okay?"

"Deal."

Sam and Mercedes walk toward Mercedes' car after waving goodbye, leaving Mike and Tina standing outside the front door of Breadstix feeling _very _antsy. He can't get the thought of Tina's empty house out of his mind...

"They're cute together," Mike says, tapping his foot against the pavement.

"I agree," Tina replies, her eyelashes doing that fluttering thing whenever she's anxious or impatient.

They're quiet for another twelve seconds. Yes, he counted.

"So uh. You said they'll be gone until eleven?"

"Yup."

"What time is it now?"

"Eight twenty."

"So with the ten minutes we have to consider for transportation time from here to your house... that's two hours and a half of..."

"...That's what I'm thinking."

They dash to his car faster than Mike thought would be humanly possible after a huge Breadstix dinner. And he may have broken a couple of speed limits, but they arrive at her house at eight twenty-eight exactly and Tina's already pressing her lips firmly against his as she wrestles to pull her house key out of her pocket.

So that's two hours and thirty-_two_ minutes of... well, a very good reason to enjoy the current state of their relationship.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So what did you think? Review and let me know! :)**


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